Chapter 116: Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda (16)

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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-Who said you could die as you wish? Your body is mine now.

A bone-chilling voice, resembling the sound of scratching a glass window, was heard.

Perfected Wuyang’s face was split precisely in two with the center as the dividing line.

The right side was frozen stiff with only the eyes glaring wide, while the left side curled its lips like a madman.

At a single glance, the right side was normal, and the left side was an unidentified monster.

‘Did he get possessed after going to the fourth floor?’

Jin So-myeong also had no choice but to be flustered by the sudden turn of events.

The split expression was as if two souls were fighting over a single body.

-Did you not wish to live long? I will grant that wish.

As the bizarre voice continued once more, Perfected Wuyang, who had been frozen like a statue, muttered as if only now realizing:

“It was because I saw you that I fled from the fourth floor.”

Biting his lips, he spoke rapidly toward Jin So-myeong.

“Avoid this and get as far away as possible.”

The instant Jin So-myeong, who flinched, even used the Lightning Escape Art to retreat,

Perfected Wuyang recovered all of the spiritual power he had been dissipating.

Koogoogoong!

As a vast energy gathered, the entire ground shook violently. The sand soldiers that began to stand up one after another numbered as many as a thousand.

‘That all of them are at the Core Formation stage.’

His dumbfounded state lasted only for a moment.

Crunch!

A thousand soldiers drew their bows as if they were a single body.

As soldiers, each and every one of whom was on the Core Formation level, unleashed their energy all at once, it was to the extent that even the ground crumbled from the boiling spiritual power.

Ping!

In an instant, the sky was packed. So many arrows were shot that the sun was blocked, yet only a single sound resounded.

The moment the arrows that surged up while defying gravity touched the clouds,

the merged arrows became an earth dragon and plunged down vertically.

………!

Right upon the crown of Perfected Wuyang’s own head.

When the unidentified monster tried to seize his body, he had committed suicide without any hesitation whatsoever.

It was a shockingly resolute decision, but the monster was also not to be underestimated.

Just before the collision, it formed a dark red barrier above the crown of the head, and literally swallowed the earth dragon summoned by Perfected Wuyang without leaving a trace.

‘Is that a Nascent Soul-grade spell…’

Jin So-myeong, who watched intently without even blinking his eyes, groaned inwardly.

If it was the energy contained in the earth dragon just now, it could blow away a decent city entirely. Even a large city like Vast Wilderness Immortal City would suffer catastrophic damage if hit in a defenseless state.

It was an attack that powerful, but when it touched the barrier created by the monster, it vanished without making even a minor noise.

-Why do you try to take your own life? If you become one with me, you will be able to live for at least several hundred years more.

The grating voice that sounded like scratching a glass window had become as soft as a spring breeze before long. It was to the extent that just listening to it caused one’s fighting spirit to subside.

Few seconds of hesitation later, Perfected Wuyang sneered.

“The moment I become one with you, the existence that is ‘I’ will disappear, so what meaning would there be even if I lived for another thousand years?”

-Do you cling to a meaningless ego? After all, all living spirits are nothing but a single dream…

“Silence!”

The moment Perfected Wuyang, who shouted out loud, formed a hand seal,

the earth stood up.

It was huge. It was larger than any entity Jin So-myeong had ever seen.

A giant made by compressing the entire vast earth. An Earth-Stone Giant so colossal that its head touched the clouds thrust its spear down with a glaring expression.

Swaeeek!

The spearhead, which plunged like a heavenly punishment, attempted to pierce the crown of Perfected Wuyang’s head,

and the dark red barrier that appeared once again blocked the giant’s spear.

……!

There was no sound. I would simply describe it as everything visible being distorted.

As the two mighty forces clashed, it felt like space could not endure and was collapsing.

-I cannot understand. You will die soon anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to extend your life using whatever method?

Perfected Wuyang did not answer. He merely raised his spiritual power with an expressionless face.

-Indeed… humans are originally foolish. Do as you wish. You will realize that it is meaningless.

Simultaneously with the calm declaration that felt arrogant to the point of being haughty, the dark red barrier that had been blocking the Earth-Stone Giant’s spear vanished.

Crunch!

Perfected Wuyang, pierced by the spearhead, melted into a handful of bloody water.

So powerful was the force contained in the spear that the aftermath alone cleaved the ground, creating a canyon.

‘Urgh.’

Jin So-myeong, who endured being almost sent flying by the shockwave, glared with wide eyes.

The last remaining single drop of blood.

An intense energy surged from it, and flesh began to form. A fingernail-sized lump of flesh instantly expanded into muscle, and pure white bones that appeared like an illusion took the center.

In the blink of an eye.

Perfected Wuyang, who had vanished as if evaporating, was regenerated as if time had been rewound.

Perfected Wuyang, who was revived into a perfect state without a single wound, wore a dumbfounded expression.

“What on earth is this.”

-I have already achieved an immortal body. A body that cannot die even if it wants to. You will also become like this.

Perfected Wuyang, whose fingertips trembled slightly, shut his mouth. He cast all kinds of ominous spells to attack himself.

Crunch!

Obsidian pillars rising from the ground pierced his heart, dantian, and mid-brow simultaneously, and a yellow wind that rushed in like a whirlwind weathered his flesh.

-Are you finished?

However, it did not work.

No matter what wound he suffered, Perfected Wuyang was revived in an intact state by the monster’s power.

-Are you not even worried about your descendants outside? I will take care of them, so give up already.

What meaning did it hold for a monster that forcibly seized a body to take care of someone?

It was an exceedingly gentle tone, but to anyone’s ears, it was a threat.

Those words, which would be terrifying to someone, made Perfected Wuyang’s pupils, which had been wavering from the continuous resurrections, grow clear.

Perfected Wuyang, who came to have a calm gaze as if he had made up his mind, let out a hollow laugh.

“Sigh, damn it. To not even be able to die comfortably. My life is truly perfect until the very end.”

He muttered so, then smiled so brightly that his teeth showed, his expression becoming mad to the point that it was indistinguishable from the monster.

“Immortal body? Let us see if you can revive even if your body is ground to pieces by the Void Turbulence. Uahahahaha!”

Simultaneously with his mad laughter,

the Earth-Stone Giant so colossal that it touched the clouds thrust its spear. However, the target this time was not Perfected Wuyang, but the empty sky.

The spearhead, which advanced with the momentum to tear apart everything that blocked it, pierced the empty air.

In other words, it hit nothing. Obviously, nothing should have happened, yet…

Crunch!

a part of the sky where clouds had been floating distorted, and a crack arose like a glass window breaking.

Through the crack that split open with cracking sounds, a darkness deeper than anything in the world surged.

‘Ah.’

His hair stood on end. Jin So-myeong, who took in the battle between the Nascent Soul stage cultivators without missing a single thing, instinctively knew:

That place is the Void Turbulence mentioned by Perfected Wuyang. If anyone entered, nine times out of ten, they would die.

-Sigh… you are behaving tiresomely.

The crack that had been trying to widen vibrated violently. It repeated the process of shrinking and expanding while making an unpleasant squeaking noise.

A struggle of power ensued between Perfected Wuyang, who wanted to tear the void and fling his body into the Void Turbulence, and the monster, which tried to close the crack.

It was neck-and-neck.

However, in Jin So-myeong’s view, Perfected Wuyang appeared disadvantaged.

No matter how great an expert he was, he was on the verge of death due to his lifespan being exhausted. There was no way any strength remained, whether it was physical force or mental power.

‘This is not good.’

If things continued like this, he would be suppressed due to a lack of strength, and devoured by the monster without being able to leave behind even a handful of his ego.

If that happened?

The third floor of the secret realm would become that monster’s playground.

At that moment,

his eyes met Perfected Wuyang’s. His pupils were firm without any shaking.

Judging by the gaze intense enough to sting, he seemed to want to say something… but perhaps because he had no leeway, he could not open his mouth.

‘What does he want to say?’

Was it to watch moderately and flee quickly, or did he mean for him to help?

He was curious, but frankly, it was not very important. Whichever of the two it was, his action going forward would be the same.

‘If not for an opportunity like this, when would I ever challenge a monster like that?’

Sitting still and waiting for the result was not to his taste. Jin So-myeong willingly chose to become a variable.

Step.

The moment he, having made his decision, began to walk forward,

another gaze was added. It belonged to the unidentified monster that was currently rampaging to occupy the body.

This attention was somewhat painful.

Was it displeased that a mere Core Formation cultivator was barging in?

Explicit hostility poured out every time he took a step, giving the sensation of flesh rotting away.

It had not attacked with any particular spell. It had merely shown hostility, yet literally, it felt like his entire body would melt down.

‘It is truly a monster.’

Is this the power of the Nascent Soul stage? Or is that monster special?

To stand neck-and-neck with such a being with a body whose lifespan was running out.

Perhaps Perfected Wuyang’s words that his earth-attribute spells alone were the best in the Eastern Province were not a bluff.

The distance he approached while piercing through the stinging attention was five hundred meters.

The moment his Divine Sense reached them, he halted. At this distance, he could definitely land the technique he would unleash.

Raising his sword,

he lifted the sword imbued with the Limitless, the Heavenly Heavy Darkrock Sword, into a high stance and raised his concentration.

‘I will imbue all the destructive power of the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration into the blade.’

This technique required time.

The preparation time was long enough to make using it in actual combat impossible, but fortunately, they were currently in a state of deadlock.

Since Perfected Wuyang and the monster were pouring all their strength into each other, they would not be able to pay attention to whatever he did.

Suuuuup…

As he gathered all his concentration into one while regulating his breathing, gazes containing familiar emotions poured in.

Should he call it doubt and worry? This side belonged to Perfected Wuyang, and the monster merely looked down on him.

Of course, Perfected Wuyang’s gaze was not exactly pleasant either.

To express it gently, it was doubt, but to put it bluntly, he looked at him as if he were simply a madman.

A look that seemed to ask what he was doing instead of getting lost right away?

“Heh…”

It became pleasant to imagine the emotion contained in that gaze turning 180 degrees.

The corners of his mouth went up before he knew it, and the pouring emotions grew even deeper.

‘Let us concentrate.’

How many times had Jin So-myeong cast the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration divine ability? Including practice, it easily exceeded thousands at least.

He had exerted a lot of effort to control the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration in the meantime.

He had set several goals, and one of them was compressing the widely spreading destructive power of the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration.

Strength gathered at a single point is powerful.

Diamond is cut just by ejecting sand-mixed water thinly.

If even water is like that, how powerful would it be to gather the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration, which originally possessed ruinous power, at a single point?

From surface to line, from line to point.

As it ascended a step, the destructive power of the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration would differ in class.

And… this technique was born within such thoughts.

Swish!

As he struck down his sword as if splitting something in two, he awakened the divine ability that had turned numerous enemies to dust.

Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration Slash.

Amidst the excruciating pain of the meridians throughout his body snapping strand by strand, he felt certain. That the technique he had created himself after numerous hard temperings had succeeded.

The destructive power that originally should have spread in a conical shape converged into a line.

A single, dazzlingly pure white line divided the world in two…

An instant.

Perfected Wuyang and the monster, who had been focusing all their strength on each other, turned their gazes simultaneously.

This was because the strength contained in the single, pure white line moving leisurely by itself in the world that had slowed down to the point of stopping was unusual.

Could that be called a mere slash?

Everything that touched the trajectory perished silently. From deep within the ground to the clouds floating high in the sky, all of them. They dissolved without even being able to let out a scream.

Because of that.

The primary target of the two, who had been struggling over the void crack, changed.

The monster tried to block the pure white line, and Perfected Wuyang restrained such a monster.

Short yet fierce clashes repeated countless times. Until the slash that had arrived before they knew it brushed past them.

Amidst the silence, the reactions of the two entities diverged starkly.

Perfected Wuyang merely laughed as if it were absurd.

“My, that is a spectacular divine ability.”

-Why… how is it that I cannot regenerate?

The blade forged by the Supreme Great Ability sliced through the immortal monster and passed.

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